Edited by Christopher Dawson and T. F. Burns

The Persistence of Order, Vol. I

In 1931, preeminent historian and scholar Christopher Dawson commissioned a new series (titled Essays in Order), whose purpose was, in part, “to examine the possibilities of cooperation and of conflict that exist between the Catholic order and the new world.” The Persistence of Order comprises fourteen of those commissioned essays, published across three volumes. Volume I contains Jacques Maritain’s “Religion and Culture”; Peter Wust’s “Crisis in the West”; Ida Friederike (Görres) Coudenhove’s “Nature of Sanctity”; and Dawson’s own “Christianity and the New Age.” Each with its own distinctive style and approach, the essays speak to the vital role of religion and culture in the development of civilization and the flourishing of the human person.

“If the salt itself loses its savor, then indeed the world sinks back into disorder and death…” –Christopher Dawson

Christopher Dawson (1889–1970) was a British Catholic historian and cultural scholar. A prolific, immensely influential author, he was also a lecturer and professor at numerous prestigious universities throughout Europe and the United States.

T. F. Burns (1906–1995) was a publisher and editor. Beginning in 1926 with the newly established Sheed and Ward, Burns went on to enjoy a distinguished, challenging career in Catholic publishing, receiving the Order of the British Empire in 1983.

Paperback: 304pp. 

ISBN: 978-1950970278